Dissecting Pistil Responses to Incompatible and Compatible Pollen in Self-Incompatibility Brassica oleracea Using Comparative Proteomics.

Angiosperms have developed self-incompatibility (SI) systems to reject self-pollen, thereby promoting outcrossing. The Brassicaceae belongs to typical sporophytic system, having a single S-locus controlled SI response, and was chosen as a model system to study SI-related intercellular signal transduction. In this regard, the downstream factor of EXO70A1 was unknown.

Identification of Interacting Motifs Between Armadillo Repeat Containing 1 (ARC1) and Exocyst 70 A1 (Exo70A1) Proteins in Brassica oleracea.

In order to identify the functional domains which regulate the interaction between the self-incompatibility proteins armadillo repeat containing 1 (ARC1) and exocyst 70 A1 (Exo70A1) in Brassica oleracea, fragments containing selected motifs of ARC1 (ARC1210, ARC1246, ARC1279, ARC1354) and site-specific mutants with substitutions at possible interaction sites (ARC1354m, ARC1664m) were PCR amplified and inserted into pGADT7, while coding sequences from Exo70A1 (Exo70A185, Exo70A1) were subcloned into pGBKT7. The interactions between the protein products produced by these constructs were then analyzed utilizing a yeast two-hybrid system. Our data indicate that both ARC1210 and ARC1246 interact strongly with Exo70A185 and Exo70A1, while ARC1279, ARC1354, ARC1354m and ARC1664m exhibited a weak interaction, indicating that the recognition sites are located within the 210 N-terminal amino acids of ARC1 and the 85 N-terminal amino acids of Exo70A1.

OsABCG15 encodes a membrane protein that plays an important role in anther cuticle and pollen exine formation in rice.

An ABC transporter gene ( OsABCG15 ) was proven to be involved in pollen development in rice. The corresponding protein was localized on the plasma membrane using subcellular localization. Wax, cutin, and sporopollenin are important for normal development of the anther cuticle and pollen exine, respectively.

QTL analysis for early-maturing traits in cotton using two upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) crosses.

Making use of the markers linked closely to QTL for early-maturing traits for MAS (Marker-assisted selection) is an effective method for the simultaneous improvement of early maturity and other properties in cotton. In this study, two F2 populations and their F2:3 families were generated from the two upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) crosses, Baimian2 × TM-1 and Baimian2 × CIR12.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization on plant extended chromatin DNA fibers for single-copy and repetitive DNA sequences.

The compactness of plant chromosomes and the structure of the plant cell wall and cytoplasm provide a great obstacle to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for single-copy or low-copy DNA sequences. Consequently, many new methods for improving spatial resolution via chromosomal stretching have been employed to overcome this technical challenge. In this article, a technique for extracting cell-wall free nuclei at mitotic interphase, then using these nuclei to prepare extended DNA fibers (EDFs) by the method of a receding interface, whereby slide-mounted chromatin produces EDFs in concert with gravity-assisted buffer flow, was adopted as a result of the low frequency of EDF damage produced by this procedure.

Molecular analysis and characterization of zebrafish keratocan (zKera) gene.

Corneal small leucine-rich proteoglycans play a pivotal role in maintaining corneal transparency and function. In this study, we isolated and characterized the zebrafish (Danio rerio) keratocan (zKera) gene. The human keratocan sequence was used to search zebrafish homologues.